Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Synchrony Financial from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Synchrony Financial from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Synchrony Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Synchrony Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Synchrony Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Synchrony Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.41.

Synchrony Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SYF traded down $0.87 on Tuesday, hitting $49.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,785,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,015,285. The stock has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.69. Synchrony Financial has a 1-year low of $27.30 and a 1-year high of $52.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.20. Synchrony Financial had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 16.06%. The business had revenue of $5.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. Analysts expect that Synchrony Financial will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 76,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,563,209.23. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Brian J. Sr. Wenzel sold 74,698 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.73, for a total value of $3,490,637.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 76,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,563,209.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bart Schaller sold 930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $47,281.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,510,987.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Synchrony Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 66.6% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,374,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $274,892,000 after acquiring an additional 2,548,180 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 402.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,520,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,872 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Synchrony Financial by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,726,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $264,917,000 after purchasing an additional 727,649 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Synchrony Financial by 33.5% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,685,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,266,000 after buying an additional 674,366 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Synchrony Financial by 400.2% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 842,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,751,000 after buying an additional 674,093 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.48% of the company’s stock.

Synchrony Financial Company Profile

Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts, and sweep and affinity deposits, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms.